This blog is dedicated to treating everyone - clients, prospects, friends, and family - as valuable partners. We should show them our gratitude through all our actions, including our marketing.

December 8, 2013

Appreciation Marketing – Follow Through

As we go about our business operations, we have many
opportunities where we should follow through with our marketing. Remember that
marketing includes everything that we do, and opportunities to follow through
with actions involving others are always at hand. It is what we do, or don’t
do, with those opportunities that illustrate what type of networking partner we
can be.

We all try to be professional and follow through with our
promises. We promise to provide information; we promise to provide referrals if
possible. We promise to look at someone’s website, or we promise to try
someone’s product on a trial basis. We even promise to read someone’s blog. Do
we follow through and keep our promises, and why do we promise to do something
if we never plan to do so?

Sometimes we cannot follow through since the information
that we are given is incorrect, the wrong website address, the incorrect link
to download something. Perhaps we cannot locate the information that we
promised or the contact information of the individual who may be a good
referral.

If something beyond our control prevents us from keeping a
promise to follow through, we should contact the person to whom we made the
promise and let them know of the problem. Perhaps they can give us better
information that will assist us, including the correct web address or the
correct phone number.

There are situations that we may just forget our promise and
not follow through with the action that we promised. That is when we must
contact the person to whom we made the promise and apologize, and we should
attempt to fulfill our promise as soon as possible. To not follow through in
some manner is rude and unprofessional.

What is the correct action for the person to whom we made a
promise that we have failed to complete? Do they just consider us a lost cause,
a non-professional with whom they do not see a business relationship being
probable? Do they look elsewhere for the information that may help their
business or personal life?

We must follow through if we are the person to whom the
follow through was promised. We have an obligation to follow through, asking
the person who made the promise if they plan to complete their part of the
agreement. The person who failed in the first place has an obligation to accept
this request professionally and then provide what they promised, if possible.
At least an explanation of their failure should be forthcoming.

Follow through applies to many situations. Of course we
should follow through with opportunities that our marketing provides, perhaps
finding a new customer, or fulfilling a request from a current client. Follow
through also applies when we promise anything to anyone. It is just like the
business transactions for which we get paid, and we have obligations to help
our networking partners.

We have discussed making the buying experience enjoyable for
everyone. At the same time we should make life enjoyable for everyone. Follow
through on our promises, just like our marketing, can provide that level of
enjoyment to all involved. Please leave me your comments here, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com, or call me at 360-314-8691. Your follow through is much
appreciated.